September 06, 2010

Reporters Notebooks

Wall Street Journal: A study found that on average, a voter in the
Associated Press poll will bump a team in his own state .65 of a spot
higher than it should be, and that teams get boosted .8 of a spot every
time they’re on ABC,
CBS, Fox or NBC. Plus, with USC about to fall from national
prominence, is there another Pac-10 team ready to take
the national stage?

Jon Solomon, Birmingham News: A survey of 69 Division I-A teams shows a decline in sales of season tickets at 52% of the schools. The average drop was 6%. Those numbers are similar to a year ago, when the newspaper's survey showed 55% reporting an average dip of 6% from 2008. Chart of results.

Scott Wolf, L.A. Daily News: A former Pacific 10 coach who declined to be identified said USC's defensive gameplan for Hawaii "did not have an answer for anything. They let a WAC team take them to school."

Ben Koo, Awful Announcing: In a day and age where we're apparently watching sports wearing 3D glasses, some of the biggest college games will not be shown in high definition for many out-of-area fans. That's right, ESPN's GamePlan is not in HD.

Darren Rovell, CNBC: Nike is still making No. 15 jerseys for Florida (Tim Tebow) even though there is no No. 15 on the current Gator roster.

Chris Day, Stillwater News-Press: Oklahoma State megabooster T. Boone Pickens predicts the Cowboys will win eight games, but he's tired of losing to Oklahoma and Texas. "I'm kind of choking on the record with the two big boys in the South. We’re 0-10 against them [under Mike Gundy], and I want to come up with some wins in there some place."

Sports Media Watch: Although up significantly from last year, Saturday's Purdue/Notre Dame matchup drew the second-lowest overnight rating for a Notre Dame home opener since the late '90s.

Ken Tysiac, Charlotte Observer: North Carolina associate head coach and recruiting coordinator John Blake has resigned. Asked directly if Blake had received money from agents while he was coaching, Raleigh lawyer Wade Smith, who has been working with Blake, responded: "That's a complicated question. I should not deal with that, with answering that, while the investigations are ongoing."

Richard Senelick, Huffington Post: Head games and youth sports: Have we gone too far?

Eric Schmoldt, Casper Star-Tribune: Wyoming freshman middle linebacker Ruben Narcisse has died in a car accident. Three other players are said to have been involved in the rollover accident on a Colorado highway.

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